"Robin Somes" > wrote in message
...
> In message >, Bob >
> writes
> >> There are a lot out there above 13.5% now, since the winemakers have
> >> been pushing for more and more ripe fruit. They work the fruity-ness
> >> of the flavors to balance out the heat of the alcohol. Nonetheless,
> >> I've had a bottle of wine with dinner at 15.5% alcohol; good taste,
> >> except for the whole spitting blue alcohol flames thing. Too much for
> >> me. Give me 10-12% any time, unless its a port.
> >>
> >> Rob
> >
> > I did look carefully at the wines yesterday when I went shopping,
> >and I was very pleasantly surprized to find them as high as 14.75%. I
> >thought I was the only one who liked wine that strong! <eg>
>
> ) Certainly not! In bought wine, I like a good full-bodied red that
> can support a strong alcohol content, and tend to think of anything
> under 13% as a bit wussy and lightweight (1)(2). Most of my home-made
> wines are sloe, wild plum, damson or blackberry, again very full-bodied,
> and I'll aim for 14, 15, even 16%. Mmmm.

<hic!> I made mead once that was 16.6% and I swear it was as delicious
as anything ever was, not even a hint of spurting flames out of your mouth,
or its possible uses as paint thinner.....
>
> That said, this year, I've made a few batches of grape and elderflower
> that are a lot lighter; hopefully they'll come out OK. Last year I took
> one batch of light-bodied wine - greengage and plum, I think, to a high
> alcohol content. It was a gorgeous salmon-pink colour, but it tasted
> grim...
>
> cheers,
> robin
> (1) Yes, I know...
> (2) But I did recently try a bottle of french Syrah which was done in a
> very New World style, with lots of body. If only I could remember its
> name. It was 'only' 12%, but it was very nicely balanced, and seemed to
> lack nothing. Apart from being in a bigger bottle .

I had some crazy idea that 12% was what all good winemakers =always=
shot for. I live on a little island in the middle of nowhere and there are
no other winemakers here, and the nearest shop is on the mainland and in the
next state. I've been the Lone Ranger of wines here for 17 years.

> --
> www.newforestartgallery.co.uk
> www.badminston.demon.co.uk www.robinsomes.co.uk
> www.amazonian-fish.co.uk www.pisces-conservation.com
> www.irchouse.demon.co.uk www.blackwell-science.com/southwood
> Trust me, I'm a webmaster...